On The Roof

Using some cellophane tape they found in the club room, Cyrina and Takashi finished boarding up the entrance to the stairs just in time for 'Them' to start piling up.

"Will some tape really hold them off for long?" Takashi asked in doubt.

"Wound cellophane tape is incredibly strong. You should have paid more attention in class." Hisashi said with a forced smirk while Cyrina continued to observe him out the corner of her eye.

"Sensei! The astronomy club left some food and drinks in there for sleepovers!" Rei said excitedly walking back out from the club room with a couple of water bottles.

"There are sleeping bags too. We should be okay for two or three days. Can you drink something, Hiyashi-sensei?" She said, handing a bottle to Cyrina first before passing out the rest. She stopped at Kyoko, still curled up in the corner, who only just seemed to notice their presence.

"Yes. Thank you, Miyamoto-san. When this is over I'll be sure to give you some extra credit...Yes, that's what I'll do. I still have papers to grade and…" She started her mutterings again in denial while Cyrina only clicked her teeth at the sight before going back to watching the silver-haired boy closely.

This did not go unnoticed by him and he only gave a slightly wry smile in her direction.

"Ehh, um… Cyrina-sensei, do you have any idea what might be happening? And what was that pretty fire all about?" Rei asked cautiously, trying to steer some kind of conversation forward and away from the woman clearly having a mental breakdown.

This brought Takashi's attention and he stopped brooding while looking over the railing at the city baked in flames.

"Hmm? No clue, aside from the obvious movie references. I was already up here like usual when Hayashi came wanting help with an intruder or something. Though the P.A. went off by the time she got up here, and well you can guess the rest." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. Many of the students and staff knew she came up here to get away from everyone for a while and there was a general consensus to leave her be during such times. Let's just say the last student who tried to interrupt her alone time hadn't made it out in one piece.

"As for the flames, let's save that conversation for when we're in a more secure location." She said while pointing her thumb back to the constant pounding on the tables behind them. They were lucky the position didn't allow too many of 'Them' on the steps at a time or else it would have never held.

"What do you mean more secure! You aren't planning on leaving from up here, right?" This time it was Takashi that caught on to her words. They had fought long and hard to get up here and she wanted to go back down into that hellhole willingly!?

Cyrina only gave him a cold glare as she took another drag to calm herself. It wouldn't do any good to blow up at the little idiot in this situation. She couldn't expect a bunch of regulars to be rational in a situation like this. Forget mentioning teenagers, the literal definition of irrational.

"Think about it kid. We have a few more hours until night falls and that's when all hell will really break loose. No power, no warmth, no visibility, nothing. We'd practically be sitting ducks if something else decides to show up." She decided to explain the first problem they'd have with staying on the roof.

"But help should be coming soon, right! Isn't it better to stay put so they can fin-"

"Don't be stupid kid. Take a look around you. Does it look like they'll have time to check for survivors in every building in the city?" Cyrina said, looking at him like he was an idiot.

Takashi was admittedly getting a little pissed with her nonchalant and dismissal attitude but he knew she was right. He knew they wouldn't be getting any help, but he wanted to cling to that slight hope even just a tiny bit.

"Most importantly though, I just can't stay here. I have a daughter to get home to." Cyrina said with a slight trace of worry in her eyes as she turned back to look at the burning cityscape, leaving the three students and now focused teacher in shock.

'Ishtar, any luck?' She asked in her mind while looking down at her ring.

'No, and you asking over and over again isn't going to change that, ya know. I told you I'd let you know if it goes through, so let me work already!' Although she appeared to be annoyed, in truth she was just as if not even more worried than Cyrina was. The whole reason they stayed on the roof this long was that it gave her the best chance to make a connection. The closer to the sky she was the more power she had.

Ishtar had been with Cyrina for years now so of course, she knew how she felt. She also considered little Liliana as her own daughter. The situation behind her birth directly involved her after all. She was trying to set up a connection but something appeared to be jamming the entire country. It didn't help that she still had to relegate some focus to keeping Cyrina herself alive, though three years of practice doing that let her multitask rather effectively. It still left her unable to speed up the pace of breaking through the jamming.

'Besides, isn't Erica looking after her today? She wouldn't let anything happen to Lily, and two-hands should still be hanging around somewhere. If that idiot isn't drunk on her ass she should be smart enough to make her way back to the base in this situation.' Ishtar tried to calm her partner down knowing that if she got too worked up she'd have to work even harder to keep the poison at bay, which in turn would only slow her progress on the jamming even further.

'Sorry, you're right. I'm just worried. We were so close to fixing this whole mess and now this shit happens. My guardians are scattered. My power is weakened. My love is missing. And now my daughter is in danger. Sigh, I'm just so sick of all this.' Cyrina could only let out a sigh in her mind as she continued to split her focus between Ishtar and the group behind her.

"I wasn't aware you had any children Cyrina-san. I thought you only preferred women?" Surprisingly it was Kyoko that was the first to respond to her, the news apparently having been enough to shock her out of her breakdown.

Rei on the other hand tightly clenched her fist with a grimace spread across her face. She of course knew Cyrina had several lovers already, as the woman made it clear to mention such to any new lovers she had. But it was only now that she realized that she really didn't know that much about the woman she fell in love with. She had thought that maybe one day she could convince her to give up on her others and focus only on her but she realized that was only a pipe dream if she didn't even know she had a child!

Rei was now determined to find out more about the mysterious teacher that had made her way into her heart. That is of course if they make it out of this situation alive…

"I do and it's a long story. But that's beside the point, I think we have more important things to discuss right now," Cyrina diverted the topic from her slip up. She must be far more worried than she realized seeing as she had been keeping her daughter a secret for years now.

Takashi wanted to speak up but anything he wanted to say died in his mouth, as right on cue…

*COUGH COUGH!!* *SPLAT!!*

...Hisashi started hacking up copious amounts of blood.

"Hiiii!!" ""Hisashi!"" Takashi and Rei called out as Kyoko screamed and crawled back further into her corner with new tears finding their way down her face.

"Hisashi!! What's wrong!? Hisashi! Say something!" Rei panicked and rushed towards him dropping her water bottle to the ground without a second thought.

Hisashi could only continue to cough up blood into his hands and on the roof, completely unable to respond to Rei.

"Why!? You were only bitten on the arm, right! Why has it come to this!" Takashi yelled out in frustration as he banged his fist against the railing.

"Sensei isn't there something you can do!?" Rei cried out in desperation looking at her only hope. Cyrina had already saved her twice in this life and she was the only one she could think to turn to no matter how slim the chances.

Cyrina only looked at the downed figure of the boy and then into the pleading eyes of one of her newest lovers. She hated to see girls cry more than anything else.

'Ishtar...can you?' She asked her partner with no small amount of reluctance.

'...As long as he isn't completely dead I might be able to do something. But if I do, you'll have to give up on getting communications up and running.' Ishtar said carefully knowing this would be a very tough decision for her.

It might seem like the obvious choice to save the boy and ditch trying to get in contact with anyone but she really doesn't have a reason to save him aside from appeasing Rei. To give up on communications she would be completely unaware of any changes in the situation going forward from anyone who designed to contact her unless given another opportunity. She wouldn't know if her daughter is safe or if she should expect any new kinds of creatures to appear. She'd be completely blind.

The night was already approaching fast and Ishtar wouldn't be as strong as she is during the day. Meaning she would have to spend much more of her energy focusing on keeping the poison at bay and with Cyrina's obviously increasing stress levels, the former queen would practically be powerless for a few hours. At least not strong enough to guarantee getting through this situation completely unharmed.

That said, she could only sigh as she approached the boy, never really having a choice in the first place. She had hoped he could hold out until Ishtar was finished but it appears the world is still out to get her.

They all watched with bated breath as she stopped in front of the boy, only barely breathing raspy breaths. He didn't have much hope anymore. He could already feel his mind slipping. He wanted to ask them to throw him headfirst over the ledge, knowing a fall from this height would crack his head wide open. But any words that wanted to escape his mouth fell short as he looked on with blurred vision at the golden goddess in front of him. He belatedly realized exactly why so many of the students and teachers in the school fell in love with the aloof woman.

Rei watched Cyrina move with joy and anticipation, knowing her hope hadn't been misplaced. Takashi had already pulled her away earlier, clenching his bat, ready to end his closest friend should the situation required it. But even he felt relief seeing the golden aura surround the woman and a portal(?) of sorts opened up near her hand.

"Wha-" That is until she pulled out her gun again and pointed it directly at Hisashi's head.

"Sorry, kid," Were the only words she offered.

*BANG!*